Philip Peck
Senior lecturer
ENERGY FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT ONLINE COURSE (E4SD)
Author
Summary, in English
The E4SD (Energy for Sustainable Development) Online Course is a joint initiative led by the International Institute for Industrial Environmental Economics (IIIEE) at Lund University, Sweden with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), and the Global Network on Energy for Sustainable Development (GNESD) as partners. The overall objective of the initiative is to provide an improved understanding of the relationship between energy systems and the economic, environmental and social dimensions of sustainable development to professionals and decision makers from the developing world.
By end of 2009, almost 250 participants from more than 70 countries will have taken the E4SD Online Course. The feedback from the large majority of participants on the relevance, value and usefulness of the course with regards to their professional work is overall very positive. Demand for the course has been growing steadily over time and now exceeds the current capacity by a factor of 20. Accommodating this significant demand and addressing the specific needs of newly identified target groups provides scope for extension and further development of the E4SD initiative. It also will require the creation of new organizational concepts and innovative learning modes for delivering the online course to a larger audience.
This will, in some cases, also require for content being developed and adapted to regional needs and specific target groups. This paper presents the current status and achievements of the E4SD initiative followed by a description of the envisioned future activities. The latter include (1) the establishment of regional “E4SD Hubs“, (2) the development and delivery of an “E4SD self-learners course”, and (3) the conduct of an “E4SD Policy Dialogue” offering in the next project phase.
By end of 2009, almost 250 participants from more than 70 countries will have taken the E4SD Online Course. The feedback from the large majority of participants on the relevance, value and usefulness of the course with regards to their professional work is overall very positive. Demand for the course has been growing steadily over time and now exceeds the current capacity by a factor of 20. Accommodating this significant demand and addressing the specific needs of newly identified target groups provides scope for extension and further development of the E4SD initiative. It also will require the creation of new organizational concepts and innovative learning modes for delivering the online course to a larger audience.
This will, in some cases, also require for content being developed and adapted to regional needs and specific target groups. This paper presents the current status and achievements of the E4SD initiative followed by a description of the envisioned future activities. The latter include (1) the establishment of regional “E4SD Hubs“, (2) the development and delivery of an “E4SD self-learners course”, and (3) the conduct of an “E4SD Policy Dialogue” offering in the next project phase.
Department/s
- The International Institute for Industrial Environmental Economics
Publishing year
2009
Language
English
Publication/Series
Proceedings of the 3rd International Conference on Higher Education for Sustainable Development, Penang, Malaysia. 20-22 November 2009.
Document type
Conference paper
Topic
- Social Sciences Interdisciplinary
Keywords
- energy
- e-learning
- developing countries
Conference name
3rd International Conference on Higher Education for Sustainable Development
Conference date
2009-11-20
Conference place
Penang, Malaysia
Status
Published